Configuring Load Balancing in VMM Overview

Networking in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) includes load balancing integration, so that you can automatically provision load balancers in your virtualized environment. Load balancing integration works together with other network enhancements in VMM. For information about these enhancements, see the list of topics at the end of this topic.

Load balancer integration

By adding a load balancer to VMM, you can load balance requests to the virtual machines that make up a service tier. You can add supported hardware load balancers through the VMM console or, for some configurations, you can use Microsoft Network Load Balancing (NLB). NLB is included as a possible load balancer when you install VMM. NLB uses round robin as the load-balancing method.

For both of the previous configurations, hardware load balancing can be used instead.

To add supported hardware load balancers, you must install a configuration provider that is available from the load balancer manufacturer. The configuration provider is a plug-in to VMM that translates VMM PowerShell commands to API calls that are specific to a load balancer manufacturer and model.

Before you can use a hardware load balancer or NLB, you must create associated virtual IP (VIP) templates.

VIP templates

A virtual IP template contains load balancer-related configuration settings for a specific type of network traffic. For example, you could create a template that specifies the load balancing behavior for HTTPS traffic on a specific load balancer manufacturer and model. These templates represent the best practices from a load balancer configuration standpoint.

After you create a virtual IP template, users (including self-service users) can specify the virtual IP template to use when they create a service. When a user models a service, they can pick an available template that best matches their needs for the type of load balancer and the type of application.

A user (typically a self-service user) creates a service template. In the Service Template Designer window, they add a load balancer to a service tier, and then select which virtual IP (VIP) template to use. When the service is deployed, VMM automatically selects a virtual IP address from the reserved range in the static IP address pool and assigns it to the load balancer. This IP address is considered the “front-end” IP address for a load-balanced service tier. VMM also assigns static IP addresses to the virtual machines that make up the service tier. These are considered “back-end” dedicated IP addresses, as they are behind the load balancer.

After the service is deployed, the administrator verifies in the VMM console which virtual IP address is being used as the front-end IP address for the service tier. The administrator then contacts the DNS administrator to create a DNS entry for the assigned virtual IP address. For example, if the front-end Web tier of a service is load balanced, the administrator can verify which virtual IP address is used for that tier. The DNS administrator can then create an entry in DNS for the name that users will specify to connect to the Web front-end. For example, the DNS administrator could create a DNS entry for ServiceName.contoso.com with the corresponding virtual IP address.

NLB workflow

The following list describes the NLB workflow to load balance a service tier. However, in service tiers running Linux, or in a service where the VM networks are configured with network virtualization, you cannot use the NLB workflow. Instead, use the Hardware load balancer workflow, listed earlier in this topic.

This is the NLB workflow:

In the VMM console, during creation of a static IP address pool, the administrator configures a reserved range of virtual IP addresses.

Note

This step can be performed at any time before a service is deployed that uses a load balancer. Realize that you must have one virtual IP address for each service tier that uses load balancing.

In the VMM console, the administrator creates one or more virtual IP templates. Through the Load Balancer VIP Template wizard, the administrator defines the following:

The port to use for the type of network traffic that will be load balanced

The template type (in this case, the Specific template type, set to Microsoft NLB)

The type of protocol to load balance (TCP, UPD, or both)

Whether to enable session persistence

A user (typically a self-service user) configures a service template by doing the following:

For the tier that will be load balanced, the user must specify a virtual machine template that meets the specific configuration requirements for NLB. For information about the configuration requirements, see How to Configure NLB for a Service Tier.

In the Service Template Designer window, the user adds a load balancer, and then selects which virtual IP (VIP) template to use.

When the service is deployed, VMM automatically selects a virtual IP address from the reserved range in the static IP address pool and assigns it to a load-balanced service tier. VMM also assigns static IP addresses to the virtual machines that make up the service tier.

After the service is deployed, the administrator verifies in the VMM console which virtual IP address is being used for a service. The administrator then contacts the DNS administrator to create a DNS entry for the assigned virtual IP address. For example, if the front-end Web tier of a service is load balanced, the administrator can verify which virtual IP address is used for that tier. The DNS administrator can then create an entry in DNS for the name that users will specify to connect to the Web front-end. For example, the DNS administrator could create a DNS entry for ServiceName.contoso.com with the corresponding virtual IP address.

Example scenario overview

The procedures in this section include examples that help demonstrate the concepts. For a summary of the examples that are used in this section, see the “Networking” section of the table in Preparing the Fabric Scenario in VMM.

Note

The examples are not meant to be prescriptive guidance for a lab setup. You should adapt the examples to your test environment.

In this section

Describes how to add supported hardware load balancers to the VMM environment so that you can load balance service requests. Note: If you want to use Microsoft Network Load Balancing (NLB), you do not have to add a hardware load balancer. When you install VMM, NLB is automatically included as a load balancer. To use NLB, you must create NLB virtual IP templates, described in the last row of this table.

Configure port profiles and port classifications, and use them in logical switches, so that you can apply your port settings consistently to your network adapters and virtual network adapters. After configuring port settings, configure logical switches, and as needed, switch extensions (for Quality of Service (QoS), monitoring, or security).

Configure VM networks (on top of logical networks), which allow you to use network virtualization or other networking options. With VM networks that use network virtualization, you can also use gateways to increase connectivity.

Next steps after configuring networking

For information about the next steps to take after configuring networking, see the following topics: